Vision: Inspired by Christ, we aspire to excellence in learning, living life fully in community
The mission at St Michael’s is to:

• be a vibrant catholic community where all feel safe, valued, loved and respected

• display understanding, compassion and care for others and all creation

• foster dynamic and diverse learning opportunities

Welcome to Term 4. I hope you all enjoyed some quality family time during the holiday break. I feel privileged to be fulfilling the role as Acting Principal for the duration of Term 4 and I look forward to working with you, our wonderful parent community, our amazing students and staff. There is much to be excited about this term. My message will be aligned to our Vision statement and reflect how I see the students, staff and parents living out our vision to ensure that together we are a thriving and vibrant catholic community

Inspired by Christ

Christmas Art Project Achievement

Congratulations to Sophia LP in Year 6 who made it through to the next stage in the Christmas Art Competition. Her beautiful artwork was chosen and displayed in the Wollongong City Art Gallery over the holiday period and I am pleased to announce that Sophia received a Highly Commended Award and Medallion on the exhibition night. What an outstanding achievement for Sophia who through her art and scripture was clearly inspired by Christ.

Mr Ryan jamming with Edi C and Monte H

Mr Ryan has loved jamming with Edi and Monte to teach them how to play the Aboriginal Our Father on their guitars. This is just another example of how our teachers work with students to bring out their gifts to share with the wider community. Thank you Mr Ryan, Edi and Monte for giving up your lunchtimes to rehearse together. 

We aspire to excellence in learning

Writing Improvement - Student Author

One of our improvement goals this year is to improve writing across the grades. Students and teachers have busily been engaging in Writer’s Workshops and putting newly learnt skills to the test. Student choice over topic or genre has been big on the agenda and with the introduction of Writer’s Notebooks for all students in Year 2-6, we have seen an increase in the volume and interest of all writers. Below is an example of Eisley C from Year 4 sharing her ‘writer’s voice’ in a creative nonfiction piece. 

Hum, the birds that dance in the sky.

Curse the cross that eats and shatters. 

The birds that hum at funerals, oh, the many I’ve been.

The thunder roars and lightning flashes, on off, on off, on off, like a warning, something is coming.

I sprint through the woods to my home, I like that term, my home. Oh the many things I’ve had and lost.

The graveyard, my home.

The haunting horizon rises as the new day in Pompeii begins. That’s when the volcano screams an ear deafening screech. 

The last day in Pompeii.

Public Speaking Champions 

Congratulations to Darcy F and Maggie L who represented our school at the Public Speaking Competition. Darcy came first in the South Coast cluster which is an outstanding achievement. His speech was titled, Handwriting, a thing of the past. Darcy will now represent St Michael’s at the next level. We wish him well. 

 

Living Fully in community

Student Proposal - Planet Protectors

I absolutely love it when students come to me with ideas on ways they can lead and improve our school. So when Willow B and Daisy D in Year 3 came to me with a proposal titled Planet Protectors, I was so excited. The girls have seen a few environmental problems in our playground and want to fix them. They have pulled a team of protectors together and will launch Going Green Week where there will be a number of activities and initiatives for all to get involved in. Stayed tuned for the planet Protectors and Going Green Week . The Planet Protectors will be in yellow high vis vests so you won’t miss them.

World Teachers Day

I was in awe of our students when they showed their gratitude for our teachers and staff on World Teachers Day. The amount of students who ‘took their hats off’ to teachers and said ‘thank you’ was heartwarming and showed how appreciative our students really are. Please enjoy this video that our Year 6 Living Fully in Community team members created of our students saying what they love most about their teachers. 

Calendar overview 

 

Week  4	Monday 4 November	Tuesday 5 November	Wednesday 6 November	Thursday 7 November	Friday 8 November
	Playgroup Session #3 - 1.30pm	Choir 8.00am	Canteen Open Playgroup Session #4 - 9.15am	Canteen Open Yr 3 & 4 Science Incursion	Canteen Open Tee Ball lesson (Gecko Sports)
Week 5	Monday 11 November	Tuesday 12 November	Wednesday 13 November	Thursday 14 November	Friday 15 November
	Remembrance Day Prayer Service 10:40am	Choir 8.00am Playgroup Session # 5 & Parent Workshop Communion Class # 1 - 3.45pm	Canteen Open	Canteen Open Tee Ball lesson (Gecko Sports)	Canteen Open Playgroup session # 6 & Parent Workshop 9.15am Awards assembly 2.30pm

 

Pupil Free Days

Date	Days
20 December Last day of T4	1

 

Mrs Amy Sammut - Acting Principal

Kindergarten 2025 Playgroups

We welcomed our new kIndergarten 2025 students and their families to St Michael’s with our Playgroup sessions commencing in Week 2. What an amazing group of students we have joining our vibrant community next year. I can already see life long friendships starting to form and the bonds between parents are also starting to grow.

Introduction of Writer’s notebooks

If you want to see how budding Year 2 authors grow seeds(ideas) from their notebooks into masterful writing pieces, please take a look through this document. Well done Year 2 and Mrs Cheetham who are absolutely loving being authors with a purpose and audience and experimenting with their Writer’s notebooks Writer's notebook implementation .

Our Year 4 and 5 students are also diving into their writer’s notebooks to gather ideas and spark creativity. These notebooks provide a space for students to express themselves, develop their seeds, and discover their unique voices as writers. It’s inspiring to see them growing in confidence and developing a true enjoyment of writing.

What’s on the Horizon?

We are so excited to inform you that we have been successful in gaining a 3 year partnership with Gotcha4Life, a non for profit organisation that supports schools to build a ‘mentally fit’ culture. As part of 2025 improvement plan, we will have a focus on embedding social and emotional competencies into our teaching and learning and with the support of facilitators from Gotch4life, we will have a whole school focus on mental fitness. To start the journey, the leadership team have met with facilitators and have mapped out a plan. There will be parent workshops on mental fitness strategies, teacher professional learning and lessons, strategies and group work for students. We encourage you to get on board and support us as we create a ‘mentally fit’ school community where we:

-build, flex and train our emotional muscles

-don’t worry alone

-make mental fitness and wellbeing a HABIT

Visit the website for tips and tricks on how you can check your mental fitness https://www.gym.gotcha4life.org/

Register for this webinar with Dr Justin Coulson

How to Stay Connected in Times of Change

How to Stay Connected in Times of Change Flyer

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS NEWS

At St Michael’s, we are committed to fostering a respectful and caring culture where everyone feels valued. As part of our New Respect Focus, we’re encouraging all students to follow the guidelines for respectful behaviour, especially during line-up times.

Our new respect focus is: When the whistle is about to be blown, Level zero is the tone!

What we want to see and hear:

. Students sitting in lines at voice level zero.

. Whole body listening in lines - facing the front, no speaking, listening with our ears   and our eyes, not playing with any objects

. No eating in lines

. Model to other students who are speaking what level 0 looks and sounds like.

. Show respect to the person on the microphone

. Show reverence throughout prayer

What we don’t want to see and hear:

. People talking in lines 

. People eating in lines

. Students facing backwards

. Students not joining in prayer

. Students not demonstrating whole body listening

. Students distracting other students in lines. 

By working together to reinforce these expectations, we can create a positive and respectful environment at St Michael’s. Let’s encourage our students to embrace these values and help build a stronger, more caring school community!

Waste Free Wednesday update

The Waste Free Wednesday Week 2 data:

Kindergarten: 92%

Year One: 56%

Year Two: 60%

Year Three: 53%

Year Four: 58%

Year Five: 90%

Year Six: 48%

So the Gold Waste Free Warriors for Week 2 are: Kindergarten

and the Silver Waste Free Warriors for Week  2 are: Year 5

The Waste Free Wednesday Week 3 data:

Kindergarten: 92%

Year One: 56%

Year Two: 60%

Year Three: 53%

Year Four: 58%

Year Five: 90%

Year Six: 48%

So the Gold Waste Free Warriors for Week 3 are: Kindergarten

and the Silver Waste Free Warriors for Week  3 are: Year 5

Mrs Chelsea McLeod - Acting Assistant Principal

Diverse Learning Update: 

Over the past few weeks, teachers in Years 3-6 have worked collaboratively to design tiered tasks across various Key Learning Areas and have begun implementing these in their classrooms. These tasks are tailored to meet the diverse needs of students by offering activities at different levels of complexity, ensuring each student is appropriately challenged according to their understanding, learning style, and interests.

The tiered tasks are aligned with Bloom’s Taxonomy skills, encouraging students to develop across a range of cognitive levels. They are engaging with skills such as remembering, understanding, and applying knowledge, as well as higher-order thinking like analysing, evaluating, and creating. Since introducing these tiered tasks, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in student engagement, with students more actively involved in their learning and progressing confidently at their own pace.

We are proud of the work that the students have produced so far, and are excited to continue implementing more tiered tasks as the term goes on. This approach not only fosters a deeper understanding of the content but also encourages collaboration among students as they tackle tasks suited to their individual levels. It promotes a positive learning environment where students feel empowered to take ownership of their educational journey.

Here are some of our fantastic Year 3 students working on a tiered HSIE task. They created comic strips to step into the shoes of convicts and recount what life might have been like on the First Fleet.

Mrs Chelsea McLeod -  Diverse Learning Coordinator - High Potential and Gifted Students

2024 - SPORTING EVENTS AND DATES

Upcoming dates for your 2024 “Sports Diary”

• 27th CDF Sports Awards, Friday the 15th November 

STUDENT SPORTING & EXTRACURRICULAR  SUCCESS STORIES

We invite all our families to share their child/children’s sporting and extracurricular  achievements outside of school, so we can share in their success as a whole school community through our School Newsletter.

If you require any further information about sporting events at St Michael’s please contact Mrs Campbell 

Mrs Danielle Campbell - Sports Coordinator

eSafety Commission: Free Webinars for Parents and Carers

Supporting healthy technology use as your child transitions into high school. 

This webinar explores the social pressures, peer influences, and technological challenges young people face as they transition into high school. It also offers practical strategies for navigating online friendships and connections to help minimise negative experiences.

It's suitable for parents and carers of children in upper primary school (ages 11 to 12) and Year 7.

• Tuesday 29 October, 12.30 pm AEDT 
• Thursday 28 November, 12.30 pm AEDT 

Register here.

eSafety 101: How eSafety can help 

• Thursday 24 October, 12.30 pm AEDT 
• Wednesday 4 December, 12.30 pm AEDT 

Register here.

Mrs Emma Cook - Instructional Coach

Congratulations to the following students who received awards at previous assemblies:

Principals Award

Frankie C

Inez B

Anna H

Cody W

Leila M

Violet N

Fletcher S

Victoria F

Jemima C

Eliza B

Oska Mc

Tully H

Kyson P

Gold Award

Mary B

Annabel C

Blake Mc

Victoria F

Jemima C

Oska Mc

Edi C

Sienna P

St Michael's Blue

Oska Mc

Edi C